Prisons (Lock-ups in Specified Court Houses) Regulations 2011

These Regulations shall apply to, and in relation to, any lock-up in a court house referred to in paragraph (2) that is appointed by the Minister by notification in the Gazette pursuant to section 4(1) of the Act to be a place for the confinement of persons awaiting trial, remanded, or sentenced to imprisonment for a period not exceeding one month.

The court houses to which paragraph (1) applies are —

The general charge and administration of court house lock-ups, and the control of officers in charge of or attached to a court house lock-up, shall be vested in the Commissioner.

The Commissioner shall appoint by office a prison officer not below the rank of Assistant Superintendent to be the officer-in-charge of each court house lock-up.

The officer-in-charge shall ensure that all laws, regulations and orders relating to the court house lock-up, lock-up prisoners, authorised officers and other staff are strictly adhered to and all records are properly maintained.

Every lock-up prisoner shall be provided with food —

For the purposes of this regulation, “food” includes drink.

A lock-up prisoner may be physically searched by authorised officers except that a female lock-up prisoner shall only be searched by authorised officers who are female.

An authorised officer searching a lock-up prisoner may use such equipment as may be approved by the Commissioner for the purpose of the search.

Except with the express approval of the Commissioner —

The officer-in-charge may destroy any personal property delivered to the officer-in-charge under paragraph (3)(b) that is of a perishable or dangerous nature.

Every visitor to a court house lock-up shall —

A search conducted under paragraph (1)(b) —

A prison officer may deny a visitor admission to a court house lock-up if —

Where a prison officer denies any visitor admission to a court house lock-up under paragraph (3), the prison officer must record the grounds of the prison officer’s refusal in a report to the officer-in-charge.

The officer-in-charge may order the separation of lock-up prisoners in the interest of the safe custody, security and good order of the court house lock-up.

A female lock-up prisoner shall be kept in a cell separate from a male prisoner.

A female lock-up prisoner shall be kept in a cell that provides reasonable privacy.

A female lock-up prisoner shall not be attended by persons of the opposite sex except in the presence of an authorised officer who is female.

A lock-up prisoner below 16 years of age, whether male or female, shall be kept apart from any other lock-up prisoner who is of or above 16 years of age.

Whenever possible, a lock-up prisoner who is violent, drunk, disorderly or mentally disordered shall not be kept in a cell in which well-behaved lock-up prisoners are confined.

Any authorised officer may use force according to guidelines approved by the Commissioner if it is necessary for the security and good order of the court house lock-up or for the safety and welfare of the lock-up prisoners or other persons therein.

No more force than is necessary in the circumstances for the purposes of control and protection and with due regard to the personal safety of authorised officers and others must be used.

Where force is used on a lock-up prisoner —

Restraints may be employed to prevent any lock-up prisoner from inflicting injury to himself or herself or to another person, damaging property, creating any disturbance or escaping.

Any restraint applied on a lock-up prisoner shall be removed as soon as the purpose for which it was first applied is no longer applicable.

Restraints shall not be used for the purpose of punishing a lock-up prisoner under any circumstances.

The types of restraints used for restraining lock-up prisoners, their application under various situations, and safeguards for prevention of abuse (such as the frequency of medical reviews of a lock-up prisoner under restraint) shall be approved by the Commissioner.